


a friend in the dark

by starsupernova



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Malec and Clace
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 17:12:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6713707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starsupernova/pseuds/starsupernova
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alec never meant to like her but here he is.</p><p>There’s grudging respect when she pulls off a move or defeats an enemy. She has a sort of trust in her—a charm that he can't ignore.</p><p>So here he is, comforting her while the world stills around them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	a friend in the dark

**Author's Note:**

> i got really emo about alec and clary’s friendship after the shadowhunters finale.

Jace is gone. **  
**

Alec’s heart is pounding in his chest, but he grabs Clary before she can run behind her brother into the portal. She twists in his grasp, jerking away as the purple fades from the wall.

Jace is gone.

“What are you doing?” Clary asks frantically, looking up at Alec, who lets her go.

Jace is gone.

“Saving your life,” Alec says. “If you enter a portal not knowing where you're going, you'll be stuck in limbo forever.”

His head is spinning but he's trying to keep it clear for Clary’s sake, at least. He looks back, seeing Simon, Izzy, and Magnus staring in shock at where the portal was moments before.

He lets his thoughts drift to Magnus for a half a second but then his mind flies back to the present because _Jace is gone_.

Jace is gone and Clary falls back into Alec. He can feel her shaking and her whimpers of distress echo around him.

He keeps his gaze straight in front of him, but pulls Clary a little closer into his chest, arms tightening around her. He can feel her suffering through him and he tries to make his own pain disappear.

 _I know_ , he wants to say to her. _I know_.

* * *

Alec never meant to like Clary, much less become her friend.

She took Jace, made him love her—which almost killed him when his feelings for Jace were still confusing and conflicting.

She broke the rules, the peace, turned the whole Institute upside down.

At first, their relationship was no bark, all bite. Scathing and senseless arguing and fighting. They didn't agree with each other one bit.

Alec never meant to like her but here he is.

There’s grudging respect when she pulls off a move or defeats an enemy. She has a sort of trust in her—a charm that he can't ignore.

So here he is, comforting her while the world stills around them.

Jace is the one of the most important people in both of their lives, Alec realizes.

He releases Clary, resists the urge to wipe off the remnants of tears on her cheekbones.

“Let's go to the Institute. We can wake your mother,” Alec says to her quietly.

She plods to the door without a word.

* * *

The first person to genuinely smile out of all of them is Clary, when her mother's arms are around her.

Alec doesn't expect her to leave Jocelyn’s side for more than a minute, so it's surprising when she walks into the room where Alec is lying face flat on the table.

He sits up, quickly. “Clary, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be spending time with your mom?”

Clary shrugs. “She said to take a break. That she was fine. So, I figured I'd come here.”

Alec raises an eyebrow. “You don't like me.”

“That's true,” Clary replies, but hops onto the table and sits with her legs dangling off the edge. Alec moves to sit next to her, their shoulders barely brushing.

“Then?” Alec prompts.

Clary shrugs again, something that seems to be becoming a trademark. “You're kind of comforting.”

Alec almost snorts. “You must be really out of it for you to be nice to me.”

“Don't get used to it,” Clary says. “Plus, you're acting like _I'm_ the one who's rude to you.”

“I beg to differ.”

“Magnus is rubbing off on you.”

“God help me.”

Clary smiles, a small quirk of her lips, and Alec wonders how he ended up friends with someone that he despised so much in the beginning.

“We’re going to save Jace, right?” Clary asks him, voice thick in her throat.

“Of course,” Alec replies. “It's funny,” he continues, looking up in the air. “that he’s gone but I feel like our parabatai bond is already better than before.”

Clary’s eyes are trained on him when he looks back down. “You love him,” she states.

“Like a brother,” Alec says, and it's true.

It's true that he used to want Jace in _that_ way—he used to want Jace bad enough to let himself become bitter and hateful.

Now, though, Jace is his sibling. His parabatai. His best friend. He would do anything to get him back from Valentine.

“You love him, too,” Alec tells Clary.

“Like a—” _Brother_.

Clary can't finish the sentence and both of them know that what she was going to say isn't true.

She shakes her head and laces her fingers together. “He's not Valentine, Alec. He thinks he is, but I _know_ he isn't. He's a good person.”

“I understand that better than anyone, Clary.”

“He's a good person,” Clary repeats and leans her head onto Alec’s arm. “How can he think he's evil when he saved us?”

Clary said he is comforting and right now, Alec doesn't want to do anything more than be there for someone.

He slings his arm over her shoulders and squeezes once. “We’re finding Jace and defeating Valentine. I can promise you that.”

Clary smiles, the corners of her eyes crinkling. “Thanks.”

“Wow, two thank yous in less than 24 hours,” Alec comments and Clary just sighs, inching closer.

“Don't tell _anyone_ about this. Ever,” she says.

For a second, Alec imagines a perfect universe, where everyone he loves, all of his friends, are happy.

He would give up his life for a world like that.

“Don't want to seem vulnerable, Fray?” Alec teases and Clary rolls her eyes. He smirks and nudges her lightly. “Wouldn't dream of it.”

**Author's Note:**

> my tumblr is stxrsupernova and my twitter is kiribakus.


End file.
